Bernie Ecclestone shrugs off reports of charges in £28million German bribery case

Bernie Ecclestone maintained on Wednesday that he was “100 per cent” relaxed
despite claims in Germany that he would face bribery charges that could have
profound ramifications for his role at the head of Formula One.

It was reported in Suddeutsche Zeitung that Ecclestone had been charged with two financial offences by the prosecutor’s office in Munich following his involvement with former banker Gerhard Gribkowsky.

Last year Gribkowsky was jailed for eight and a half years for taking £28million in what he claimed were bribes from Ecclestone.

The 82-year-old, Formula One’s commercial rights holder, has vigorously denied any wrongdoing, insisting that he was the victim of coercion.

Asked if he was relaxed about the situation yesterday, Ecclestone replied: “Absolutely – 100 per cent. Sooner or later somebody will look into it, and then will have to make a decision. If I have to get bothered, I’ll get bothered.”

In 2006, Gribkowsky was responsible for managing the sale of regional bank Bayern LB’s stake in Formula One to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, which owns most of the sport.

In evidence to a Munich court last summer, the 54-year-old acknowledged that prosecution allegations that he had corruptly received £26.6million in bank payments, plus a substantial payment from Ecclestone via a family trust, were “essentially true”.

Ecclestone responded in his testimony that he had been worried that failure to pay the money would have caused Gribkowsky to alert UK authori­ties to “things” that might have led to a tax inquiry.

“The only alternative was that the British tax authorities followed a case that would have been very expensive for me,” he said.

He has one of Germany’s top law firms, Thomas Deckers Wehnert Elsner, working for him on the case. If it goes to trial, it would call into question both his role in F1 and the sport’s future, given his lack of any clear succession plan.

He said of this possibility last December: “They [CVC Capital] will probably be forced to get rid of me if the Germans come after me. “It’s pretty obvious, if I’m locked up.”